Luminous Blue Variable Star
Luminous blue variable stars (LBVs), also known as S Doradus variables, after S Doradus, one of the brightest stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud, are extremely luminous blue variables that exhibit long, slow changes in brightness, punctuated by occasional outbursts in brightness during substantial mass loss events (e.g. Eta Carinae, P Cygni). They are extraordinarily rare. The General Catalogue of Variable Stars only lists 20 objects as SDor and a number of these are no longer considered to be LBVs.
Read more about Luminous Blue Variable Star: Physical Properties, Evolution, Supernovae and Imposters, List of LBVs
Famous quotes containing the words luminous, blue, variable and/or star:
“If suffering brought wisdom, the dentist’s office would be full of luminous ideas.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“Walked forth to ease my pain
Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
Was painted all with variable flowers,”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“The Star that bids the Shepherd fold,
Now the top of Heav’n doth hold,
And the gilded Car of Day,
His glowing Axle doth allay
In the steep Atlantick stream,”
—John Milton (1608–1674)